A Pennsylvania Department of Corrections inmate is suing to stop the publication of a book he claims will hurt his chances for parole.
Louis Caviello filed a suit against Matt Birkbeck, The Berkeley Publishing Group and Penguin Group on Sept. 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, alleging that the book contains defamatory and otherwise false statements about him.
According to the complaint, Caviello is seeking to stop the publication and distribution of the novel, "The Quite Don," written by Birkbeck about Mafia kingpin Russell Bufalino. Caviello claims that Birkbeck wrote in the book that he smothered and suffocated a potential witness while at the Scranton Community Medical Center. "This is a completely fabricated piece of fiction that defendant Matt Birkbeck created to make this book resemble a mob story," the complaint states. Caviello claims that he was never arrested for such a crime.
Caviello is seeking damages of $1 million from each defendant and the costs of filing the suit. He is representing himself in the case.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania case number 15-CV-1812